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The US government has announced a grant package that includes two rounds that will finance residential solar and storage projects, followed by resiliency solutions such as microgrids, community solar and grid retrofits.
This week, the U.S. Department of Energys Office of Grid Deployment released a Request for Information (RFI) to gather input from stakeholders in Puerto Rico on how to allocate $1 billion managed through the Puerto Rico Energy Resiliency Fund. Puerto Rico (PR-ERF).
Following recent hurricanes and decades of underinvestment in the islands power grid, the new funding will be developed to increase energy resiliency and reduce the energy burden on the Caribbean islands vulnerable residents. The US investment is also aligned with Puerto Ricos public energy policy to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050, as well as the Biden Administrations commitment to improve the islands energy system.
Following Hurricane Fiona, in October 2022 President Joseph Biden visited the island and pledged to take advantage of the technical support of federal agencies to support improvements to the Puerto Rico electrical grid. Then, in December, Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which includes $1 billion for PR-ERF funding to drive key investments in resilient and renewable energy infrastructure in Puerto Rico.
The PR-ERF package will be managed by the Grid Deployment Office in consultation with the Federal Energy Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The agency is requesting input from Puerto Rican stakeholders on short- and long-term energy solutions, including residential rooftop solar deployment, community energy resiliency and critical services, non-profit partnerships, and training of labor to sustain the islands clean energy economy.
The PR-ERF provides for at least two rounds of financing:
The first round will rapidly deploy residential rooftop solar and energy storage for vulnerable homes and homes that include people with disabilities.
The next round of investments may include energy resiliency solutions such as community solar, microgrids, and other grid modernization solutions, as well as potential partnerships with local groups and workforce training.
“For too long, Puerto Ricans have endured an unreliable and expensive electrical system, with frequent blackouts due to catastrophic weather events and aging infrastructure,” said Agustín Carbó, director of the Puerto Rico Grid Modernization and Recovery Team. . “This historic investment will be transformative for many Puerto Rican families, keeping the lights on during blackouts, providing peace of mind during hurricane season, and saving them more money and lowering high electric bills with these clean energy solutions.”
Feedback for the PR-ERF process, including identification of priority energy technologies and solutions, eligibility, funding structure, and timeline, can be provided to government stakeholders by April 21 at 5 pm ET by email: PuertoRicoGDO@hq.doe.gov. Initial funding for the program is scheduled to be administered by the end of 2023.
Earlier this year, six US national laboratories outlined how Puerto Rico could achieve 40% renewable energy generation by 2025, as provided by Puerto Rico Law 17. The US territory could reach 36% renewable energy by 2025 if 3.75 GW of utility-scale solar and 1.5 GW of storage that Puerto Rico has ordered utility authority PREPA to acquired are built and interconnected by the end of 2025, which would be a "very rapid deployment," the national laboratories said in a report.
Multi-stage delays have slowed six tranches of planned renewable energy acquisitions that the Puerto Rico Office of Energy ordered PREPA to carry out in an August 2020 order. While the Office of Energy ordered requests for proposals for the first five acquisitions by the end of 2022, only two RFPs have been issued to PREPA so far.
Although Puerto Rico Law 17 mandated PREPA to reach 20% renewables by 2022, renewables provided 3% of generation in 2022, said Marisol Bonnet, team leader for the Puerto Rico Energy Recovery Team at the Department of US Energy, during a webinar outlining the report from the six national labs.
PJ Wilson, president of the Puerto Rico Solar Energy and Energy Storage Association, whose group, the Puerto Rico Solar Energy and Energy Storage Association, participates in the "PR100" initiative that produced the report, said the initiative it is a “space for all interested parties to unite their minds to define the technical pathways” for Puerto Rico to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2050, the final mandate of the Puerto Rico Energy Recovery Plan. |
